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James Coleman
"Let's hit 'em in the nuts!" - James Coleman during the Battle of Jericho VII James Edwin Coleman is a UNSC Navy Rear Admiral who served during and after the Human-Covenant War. During his career, James Coleman became a highly distinguished individual in the UNSC Navy, becoming a Captain at the age of 23 in 2534, and commanding the II. Groombridge-1830 Battlegroup until the end of the war. Biography Childhood and Schooling Growing up in the Outer Colonies, James stood out from his peers intellectually, and would attend one of the most prestigious schools on Groombridge-1830. As a teenager, he helped to coordinate a militia to defend his town during a particularly violent year of Insurrectionist activity, which would bring about his interests in a military career. James Coleman would enroll in a UNSC Outreach Program in 2526 at the age of 15, where he would leave Groombridge-1830 for the Junior Officer Academy in Casbah City, Tribute, and would perform exceptionally, being at the top of his class by the time of his graduation in 2530 at the age of 19. Early Career Harvest Campaign James Coleman was deployed to assist UNSC forces as a Lieutenant Commander during the later portion of the Battle of Harvest in 2531, commanding a Gladius-class Heavy Corvette named the UNSC Patagonian Fields. The UNSC Patagonian Fields was attached to Battlegroup D and served as a screen, protecting larger vessels such as the UNSC Spirit of Fire from smaller targets, such as plasma torpedoes and interceptor formations and escorting transportation & cargo vessels to the surface. Coleman excelled in his mission, successfully defending multiple cargo vessels against significant odds even without support from other UNSC vessels. His skill would, as a result, be noted by Vice Admiral Preston Cole, who believed he was being wasted in such an insignificant role, and therefore would put in a recommendation to FLEETCOM for his promotion, and would receive the rank of Commander, and would receive control over the UNSC Papacy, a Charon-class Light Frigate. In the closing weeks of the Harvest Campaign, the UNSC Papacy would support fleet actions and assist in the deployment of ground forces. By the time of the end of the Harvest Campaign, the UNSC Papacy had earned a reputation of "leaving no man behind" for it's intervention during a particularly bloody battle in which it saved thousands of wounded marines, who otherwise wouldn't have been able to get to proper medical facilities. Captaincy Three years after the end of the Harvest Campaign, in 2534, James was recommended for promotion yet again due to his actions during and directly after the Campaign, and due to the ongoing shortage of officers that the UNSC was experiencing due to it's heavy losses. As such, at the age of 23, he was, rather controversially, promoted as one of, if not the youngest Captain in UNSC history. He continued to be the Captain of the UNSC Papacy for another year, when he would receive a Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser called the UNSC Ivory Coast. This would be the last time in his career that he would be reassigned to a new vessel, and would be the most decorated vessel he would command. Battle of Victoria In July of 2534, the UNSC Ivory Coast was sent to investigate the 111 Tauri system after contact was lost in 2531. The UNSC had believed that the Covenant hadn't yet made it to the planet of Victoria, though they also believed that it was only a matter of time before they would, and considering that crucial information that could expose Earth to the Covenant it was considered an extremely high priority mission. The UNSC Ivory Coast arrived in Victoria's orbit on July the 27th, and would deploy forward reconnaissance teams to key locations on the planet. During a sweep of an abandoned UNSC Library, Recon Team India was ambushed by Insurrectionist forces. Having eventually been able to force the Insurrectionists into a retreat by dealing heavy casualties to their forces, Recon Team India established contact with the UNSC Ivory Coast and an Insurrectionist presence was confirmed on the planet. The first stages of the Battle of Victoria was fairly one-sided, with UNSC ground teams deployed by the Ivory Coast winning almost every engagement and partially achieving it's objective of cleansing UNSC records in databases on the planet. However, by August 2nd, the Insurrectionists began to utilise guerrilla tactics, abandoning any plans to conduct conventional warfare against the Ivory Coast. Not prepared for this, the UNSC suffered heavy losses in several engagements and the Ivory Coast was forced to reconsider it's strategies for the coming days. By August 4th, the UNSC's ground forces had prepared for a a surgical strike, with scout-UAVs having located what was believed to be the Insurrectionist headquarters on the planet. 143 marines, complemented by multiple airborne vehicles and a singular Scorpion assaulted the headquarters in a brutal battle where the UNSC would lose almost half of the assault team, but would eventually come out victorious with the capture of Insurrectionist ringleaders and the expunging of all data relating to the planets within the UNSC. Their job now complete, the UNSC Ivory Coast withdrew, leaving the greatly weakened Insurrectionists to themselves on the planet. The UNSC had suffered moderate to heavy losses, but nothing that was irreplaceable, and this battle would begin the trend of James Coleman's various run-ins with the Insurrection during the war. Jericho VII Responding to a call for reinforcements from the defenders of Jericho VII, James Coleman and the Ivory Coast would arrive on February 11th, a day after the initial attack had begun, and would join the battle on both the ground and in space. Following the UNSC taking heavy losses in space, the Ivory Coast retreated into the planet's atmosphere, and during February 12th would evacuate forces it had committed to the ground as the Covenant prepared to glass the planet. Having begun the evacuations far too late, they continued into the night of February 13th, which, by that time, the Covenant had already begun to glass the planet. The Ivory Coast was forced to engage a CCS-Class Cruiser, called the Silent Revelation, during it's retreat from the planet. The vessel managed to seriously damage the Silent Revelation which allowed the Ivory Coast to retreat before the rest of the fleet caught on to the situation. The Ivory Coast conducted a random slipspace jump away from the system. First Refit Following the Battle at Jericho VII, The Ivory Coast returned to Reach to be refitted with new armour plating and to have significant engine and slipspace-drive upgrades. During the downtime on Reach, James Coleman and a female civilian entered a relationship, which would produce Coleman's son. James Coleman left the planet before he could witness the child's birth, and wouldn't meet the child until after the war. Defense of the Inner Colonies II. Groombridge-1830 Battlegroup In 2536, the Ivory Coast was deployed to gather the remains of the defensive fleet at Groombridge-1830 as the UNSC had a severe shortage of ships following the Covenant's almost total destruction of the Outer Colonies. The vessels from Groombridge-1830 would be sent to Reach where they would receive necessary upgrades and refits and be redeployed into the UNSC Navy under the II. Groombridge-1830 Battlegroup, commanded by James Coleman. Numbering some 9 ships in total, including it's flagship the UNSC Ivory Coast, it would serve until the end of the war. Second Base Incident Having been deployed in late 2536 to the already-glassed planet of Second Base to investigate rumors of UNSC survivors, the Battlegroup encountered a still-unknown class of Covenant vessel which engaged in a short battle with them and resulted in the the Battlegroup's costly but eventual victory, with four of the vessels of the group being destroyed in the engagement. Directly following this battle, EVA teams deployed to the wreckage of the vessel discovered that the Covenant was undergoing construction of a CSO-class Supercarrier over Biko, causing ONI to draft up OPERATION: TITANIUM SPEAR OPERATION: TITANIUM SPEAR OPERATION: TITANIUM SPEAR began on the 9th of December, 2536 and was a decisive victory for the UNSC with the complete destruction of all Covenant military forces present and an incomplete supercarrier. The battle caused James Coleman's career to be propelled into notoriety among the UNSC for his command of the strike-force and would cause him to become considered one of the UNSC's most reliable naval officers. Minor Operations Following TITANIUM SPEAR Following OPERATION: TITANIUM SPEAR, James Coleman participated in the Battle Aboard the UNSC Status Quo. Relationships Theo-783 "You Spartans sure are a lively bunch, aren't you?" James Coleman became close friends with Theo-783 following the First Battle of Elysia, the two often having long, secluded conversations following battles about strategies and warfare. James Coleman frequently wrote about Theo-783 in his journal, praising his work ethic and efficiency, and labeling him as a valuable friend. Devin Weeks Following the First Battle of Elysia, Devin Weeks became close friends with both Theo-783 and James Coleman following their meeting aboard the UNSC Ivory Coast. Devin Weeks and James Coleman often recommended eachother to the other's superiors, and both met frequently following the end of the war. Marcus Coleman James Coleman's illegitimate son, born out of a youthful romance on Reach in 2535. Both had an icy relationship as Marcus Coleman disliked his dad for, in his words, "abandoning him", while James often tried to repair the relationship. Rose-788 James had a close working relationship with Rose-788, with the Spartan accompanying him during the top-secret OPERATION: BLACK CARD in 2549. Kayode Adetola Kayode Adetola, being a prominent Insurrectionist figure, was in direct rivalry with James Coleman for most of the Human-Covenant War. Despite their differences, James Coleman felt sympathy for Kayode due to them both being from the Outer Colonies, and they would eventually work together during OPERATION: BLACK CARD. Category:Characters Category:UNSC Personnel